Shenzhen challenges Silicon Valley with Nobel-inspired progress

Shenzhen has built up eight research institutes named after Nobel Prize winners in less than a year and a half, as South China’s city of innovation rapidly catches up with Silicon Valley, Yicai.com reported.

In early 2017, the Shenzhen government officially proposed that Nobel Prize-winning scientists should take the lead, aiming to build 10 laboratories led by Nobel laureates in the fields of chemistry, medicine and optoelectronics.

Yang Guang, the chief scientist at Danuo Investment Co. Ltd., who has been working with the laureates, said almost all of them are optimistic about Shenzhen.

According to Yang, they tend to be a bit old and they don’t wish to waste time, and there are only a few places in the world which can effectively put their research into action.

Shenzhen appears to be a good choice, because of its expansive chain of manufacturing, flexible market mechanisms and the ability to transfer technology rapidly.

There is a popular saying in local investment circles, that if it takes a month to convert scientific research results in Silicon Valley, it will only take a week in Shenzhen.

At present, there are already many successful cooperative projects with Nobel winners, including a surgery robot expected to enter the market. The prototype has carried out nearly 200 surgeries successfully.